“As I get older, it’s more of a challenge to find new ideas to get excited about, but I am grateful that I continue to discover them,” keyboardist/singer Joe McBride says. “If it’s easy, you’re not growing. The exciting part is coming into the studio with original demos and then watching them undergo a metamorphosis as I interact with my guys and move the tunes into other directions. Being open to new ideas allows the music to take on a life of its own. I’m always searching.”

The global appeal of Joe McBride’s music is best summarized by a quote from a music critic in Cape Town, who raved about his performance and praised the versatile composer/performer’s talent for “putting back the soul into what has become a rather soulless smooth jazz idiom.” McBride has been part of Heads Up International’s wonderful invasion of South Africa since 1999, culminating with his contribution of
“11 K’s to Freedom,” a tribute to Nelson Mandela, recorded on the 2000 internationally acclaimed recording Smooth Africa. McBride has established himself as one of the genre’s most popular artists with his label releases Grace (1992), A Gift for Tomorrow (1994), Keys to Your Heart (1996) and Double Take (1998), the latter of which featured top smooth jazz all-stars Dave Koz, Peter White, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot and Larry Carlton.

His 2000 release, Texas Rhythm Club, included his longtime Dallas-based touring band and was a loving tribute to the Lone Star State’s underappreciated jazz scene. Joined once again with the Texas Rhythm Club on Keepin’ It Real in 2002, McBride complemented his signature keyboard sound with inspired exotic influences reflecting the many loves of his musical life, include his gospel background, Brazilian samba, and the music of South Africa.

On his seventh release for Heads Up International, Texas Hold ’Em, he delivers a set of eleven, mostly original, contemporary jazz/blues-based tunes in the classic McBride style. One of his best overall recordings to date, the poker-oriented titles are as much fun as the tunes they belong to: “Big Slick,” “Double Down” “Texas Hold ’Em,” “In & Out,” “No Limit,” “All In,” and “One Eyed Jack.”

McBride, a St. Louis native who trekked to the sunny shores of San Diego for a while before finishing his musical studies at North Texas State and making Texas his home, believes the central location of Dallas allows for many different genres of music to influence its jazz and blues scene. “We’re special because we’re not really West Coast or East Coast, but what can only be described as the third coast,” he says. “The jazz here is influenced by the blues in Chicago which isn’t that far, as well as the rich zydeco heritage of New Orleans. Then there’s the southern funk and gospel. All of that contributes to what now comes naturally for us transplanted natives. And, of course, smooth jazz has gotten a big hand from the Oasis, which was one of the country's first stations in this format.”

It was that combination of great musicianship and good, kindly people that convinced McBride to stay in Dallas after graduating from NTS, where he first met Dave Love, a trumpeter who later founded Heads Up International. “When I first moved here and didn't know a soul, I was at a music store checking out a keyboard and playing my music on it,” he says. “Another musician shopping at the store heard me and told me I should meet a friend of his. I met the friend, we started playing music together, formed a band, and...well, I’m still here.”